Assassin
by ficsofez
Summary: I kill people for my family. We have a personal goal: to rid the world of all Hunters. Why, you ask? ...it's a family secret. Killua-OC
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Running, always running. There was no end to it._

_Death. Blood. That metallic scent. There was no escape from it._

It's the story of my life.

_Who am I?_

_Who?_

"Ssa-ssani Tura."

_What do I do?_

_I kill people._

"We have a target for you."

_I kill people for my family._

_We have a personal goal._

"Hiss name iss Killua Zoldyck."

_To rid the world of all Hunters._


	2. Hunting a Rival

**Chapter One: Hunting a Rival**

I turned my head to the sound of approaching police sirens. Blood dripped down my arms. I clutched, in my left hand, the heart of the Hunter that I had just killed.

I'd already forgotten his name. His name was not important anymore. His name was a tool that led me to him and him to his death.

I went to a nearby bathroom and carefully washed the heart and my blood-stained hands. There was no need to rush. I could escape the police in any situation.

I wore a blond wig. My eyes had royal blue color contacts in them to conceal the piercing hazel of my eyes. An ordinary blue bandanna covered the lower half of my face. I wore misleading bulky clothes over my black jeans and tight midnight-blue shirt. None of the lower ranks of the police would recognize me with the description any witness gave. The higher governments made too much use of my family to have any of us arrested for more than a day.

My family, the Turas, were an elite group of assassins almost on par with the Zoldycks. When a government or company didn't have enough money to deal with the Zoldycks, they inevitably turned to us.

Most of the time, though, I got my orders from my father. And my orders were for the Hunters.

The heart went in a plastic bag, which went in a fairly roomy handbag. I stepped out the front door, only to face the business end of a gun. I gave a smile to the policeman, one that would be visible through the bandanna. He was a young one.

And then I vanished.

At least, to him, I had.

To me, I was behind him. "O~so~i~."[1]

He jumped and whirled around, but I was already gone.

Five minutes and a mile away from the house of the assassination, I removed the blond wig to reveal my mahogany-red shoulder-length hair and stuffed it in the handbag. The bulky sweater and sweatpants, worn for disguise over my more stylish tight sleeveless and form-hugging jeans, followed. I flipped the bandanna over my cropped hair. At a nearby stream, I carefully washed the caking blood from my arms and removed the color contacts, which I put in the proper container.

The wafer-thin cellphone clipped to the collar of my shirt vibrated. I tapped it with grass-stained hands. Static crackled over the cheap appliance.

"Ssa-ssani."[2]

"Father. You have a new target for me?"

"Yess, I d-do, but thiss one will be difffficult-t."

"Why? How strong is he?"

"Killua Zoldyck."

Silence. And then I protested, "Father, the Zoldycks are assassins, not Hunters. Besides, wasn't he supposed to be my fiancee?"

"Thiss one g-got tired of killing-g, according to hiss father-r. Some son-in-law he would-d have made."

I shivered. My family had decided to marry me off to the Zoldycks a couple of years back. It was only now that they had received any result from their efforts.

"We have prepared a sspe-sspecial proce-procedure for eliminating thiss-thiss one. Come home and-d I will tell you how you sh-shall proce-proceed with this asssa-asssasssination. Conssider it an-n extenssion of-f your train-training."

I swallowed. "Yes, Father."

* * *

_Note for all the applicants for the title of Hunter:_

_The applicants will only be contacted by written document for the date and the hour of the test's beginning and also for the approximate placement. With the little information they have, the participants will have to go to the exam center alone. This is also a way of narrowing candidates._[3]

Sani frowned, crumpling the paper. How strange, that she was taking the exam of the people she hunted before. Shaking her head, she headed to the bus station that was supposed to take her to the exam center.

As she waited, hanging around for accurate news, she let her mind wander back to her conversation with her father.

_"You are to hunt the assassin Killua Zoldyck."_

_"But, Father, he is too strong! The last time I fought him, I was overwhelmed...."_

_"I know. But I have thought hard of how to eliminate him, and this was the solution I came up with..." And he explained thoroughly._

_Sani was stunned. "No! I will not!"_

_"You will, Sani, you will."  
_

A gossiping voice nearby cut into Sani's thoughts. "Heya! You don't know? It seems that the direct bus for Zaban doesn't go where expected!"

"A trap, maybe? Rukki told me it was a trap to eliminate candidates."

Sani smirked. _A trap, huh? I expected as much. _She turned, judging where the bus was headed. _That way... so I should head... toward that tree on the hill!_

She headed off.

* * *

The town was quiet. Too quiet. Too empty.

Sani stopped walking. _There is the sound of breathing, of cloth, of skin, of life. _"Who's there?"

A huge crowd assembled. An old lady was at the front.

"Very interesting," the old lady grumbled, "the exciting quiz of two answers!"

The crowd began clapping.

"You're heading for the tree on the mountain, aren't you?" she continued. "First, you have to succeed in getting out of this town. The other paths that lead you there are like labyrinths, in which reign terribly bloodthirsty monsters, so I will ask you one question. You have only five seconds to consider your answer. If you fail, your mistake will disqualify you from participating in the Hunter's test this year. You'll answer with '1' or '2'. Any other answer will not be valid. Do you accept the challenge? 1: you do. 2: you do not."

"1."

"A trap is set for your boyfriend and your childhood best friend. They are in two completely different locations, and you only have time enough to save one of them. Which one do you choose? 1: the boyfriend. 2: the best friend."

_What? This is stupid. _

"5."

_As an assassin, I never had the chance to date. _

"4."

_As an assassin, I never had a best friend, either. _

"3."

_It's impossible! There is no answer when they do not exist. _

"2."

_If there is no answer, there is only silence._

"1."

_...Silence!_

"There it is! It's over."

Sani said nothing.

"Did you understand the meaning of this?"

"It was a question without an answer. Anything without an answer can only correctly be answered with silence. Therefore, silence is the answer."

"So you understood."

The crowd parted, gesturing toward one of the paths.

"No," Sani said quietly. "How can anyone have a lover or a friend? They do not exist." And she walked off down the indicated path, with the old woman staring after her, startled.

"By the way!" she called. "The couple who lives in the house built by the path will be your navigators. If they think you're okay, they'll lead you to the testing place." Sani acknowledged the information with a wave.

Then, to herself, the old lady muttered, "Hm. That's the second ex-assassin we've had come by this time around."

* * *

**Attention: Monsters!**

Sani sighed, running past the sign. It was the third one since she'd entered the forest, two minutes ago. In those two minutes, she'd dodged a countless number of traps.

Finally, the house was in view. The windows were dark.

She opened the door silently. No one was home. _Probably guiding someone else._

She glanced up to the faint sound of flapping, then ran up the side of the house to the roof.

"You are the guides?" she called, making out the dim form of four rat-foxes.

"Oh? It's another one, but she's late," one of them commented.

"Can you point me toward Zaban?"

"No use, you'd never make it through the forest."

"That's what you think, but I can run faster than you fly. Which way to Zaban?" she repeated.

"I don't like this one," one of the smaller rat-foxes grumbled.

"I apologize."

"She's got some sense of manners, though. If she makes it through the forest alone, it'll be proof enough of her skills. Zaban is due east, and you must enter a restaurant near a huge building. Order a steak, slowly, rare. You'll have to follow the path through the forest before you can reach Zaban, though."

Sani bowed. "Thank you." And she was gone.

Tochan's narrow eyes widened in shock. "That girl... she was faster than the other boy!" he muttered to himself.

"Heh!" his wife chortled. "We've got ourselves some skilled Hunters this time!"

* * *

B100.

Sani took the number pin from the automaton - number 406 - and slouched back against the wall. _So I guess..._ "I'm the last one, hm? 405 other wannabe Hunters in this building... And I could beat them all. Say, old man, could you introduce me?" she muttered, her eyes closed.

The man in question grinned. "I'm Tompa! Nice to meet you!"

"Shut up on the formalities. I don't need to know you. You're weak."

Tompa frowned. "I'll have you know that I'm a veteran hereabouts -"

"Which is exactly why I asked you about the people here."

"Fine. But before that, do you want a drink? I'll introduce you while you're drinking."

"Sure." She glanced at the can and tossed it in a nearby bin. "Preferably one that hasn't been tampered with, though."

Tompa's eyes widened. "Y-yes, ma'am. #103, Barbon, the Snake Charmer. He's a stubborn one, you don't want him as your enemy. #76, Cherry the Soldier. He knows everything about martial arts. #225, the wrestler neck wringer. He's pretty strong, but he's also pretty malicious. #197, 198, and 199, the Amori brothers. They always give good results. #384, Gereta, the Hunter, is a master of killing with a blowgun and nightstick. Those are the veterans, the ones that usually show up, but though they're strong, they've none of them made it to the end."

"I see." She disappeared. Tompa shivered. _I thought I was gonna die,_ he thought, slumping against the wall of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, Sani was looking for Killua. _He'll have a hard time believing me, though, since I _am _supposed to be an assassin, but he might sympathize... I'll just have to tell him that I got a mission to target him, but he's obviously too strong. Or maybe I could say I got attached to him...? But that won't work, we've never met face-to-face -  
_

"LILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILILI!"

Sani glanced toward the noise to see a tall man with a very curly mustache turn off the source of the piercing sound.

"Here I am. The time for the reception is over. Now, the exam can begin." He gestured down the hall. "This way, please.

"We'll begin with a short verification. It's an extremely difficult exam. Sometimes you can miss a chance and wind up hurting yourself, or you could just die. There are moments, like you a little while ago, where we get irreparably hurt in an accident with companions. There are things that cannot be avoided. Now, please, follow me." He began striding down the tunnel.

_So slow,_ Sani yawned, walking along at the pace. _Maybe the crowd in front is delaying me...? Well, no matter, I'll just get to the front...!_

She ran to the front of the crowd and heard the guide say, "Count is okay. 405 participants for the first round of the exam."

Suddenly, he began speeding up.

_Still too slow, _Sani thought in boredom, and dropped into the crowd to search for the ex-assassin.

"Oh, I forgot to mention one thing," the guide called from the front of the mass of wannabe hunters. "I'm Satotsu, and I'm in charge of the first round. I am to lead you to the place of the second round.

"The second round?" asked the man Sani was currently running beside, a bald man that was dressed rather like a ninja. "You mean the first...!"

"The first round has already begun. If you're able to follow me to the place where the second round stands, you'll have passed the first," Satotsu replied. "I can't tell you where or when we'll arrive. You must be content with following me."

Sani dropped farther back into the hunters in time to hear a group of three murmur to each other, "I see..." "This test is weird..." "An endurance test?"

The last one to speak, a tall teenager carrying a briefcase, continued. "I'm enjoying it! Where he goes, I go!"

_Running without knowing how far, and how long... it's difficult psychologically... it's to test everyone's mentality,_ Sani thought, unwittingly thinking the same thoughts as the first boy who spoke.

Something silver whizzed past them. Sani's eyes widened, and she smirked. _Found you_.

"Hey!" the teenager protested. "Kid! That's not allowed! Cheater!"

Killua turned, balancing without an ounce of trouble on his skateboard. "Why?"

"'Why?'?! 'Cause it's an endurance test!"

"You're wrong!" the black-haired boy contradicted. "He just asked us to follow him, didn't he?"

"Gon! Who's side are you on?!" the teen demanded.

"You should conserve your energy," the other boy cut in. "You're just noisy right now. The principle is that there are no principles." The man looked close to exploding.

Sani inspected Killua. Looking at him now, a passersby would think him a rich man's son....

"Killua-san," Sani called warily. He noticed her for the first time.

"Who are you?"

"Sani. My parents tried selling me into your family. You were the closest to my age. I ran away."

The ex-assassin narrowed his eyes, analyzing her, then turned to Gon. "Tell me, how old are you?"

"Almost 12!" came the cheerful reply.

"Hmm...? Just like me." He kicked the skateboard into the air and caught it, to an "oh!" and a "cool!" from Gon. "Finally. I'm also gonna run, then. I'm Killua."

"And I'm Gon!"

"And you, mister?" Killua called across to the teenager, who took offense.

"'Mister'! Hey, hey! I'm not that old! I'm from the same generation as you, at any rate!"

"Are you sure?" Gon burst out.

"ARGH! Gon, It's finished! I'm never speaking to you again!"

_I should leave,_ Sani thought, in an uncanny sync with the other boy for the second time.

* * *

"Almost three hours," Sani murmured under her breath.

"So we've ran for about 40 kilometers," the blond-haired boy added.

Sani had found that the boy, whose name was Kurapika, was a sensible one, and that there thoughts often ran parallel to each other. From watching his every move, Sani had also realized the the boy came from the Kurata clan. He was dangerous.

"I wonder how many have stopped running at the back?" Sani mused.

"But above all... how much longer do we still have to run?" Kurapika frowned.

Sani shrugged. "I doesn't matter to me. I can run for as long as I need to and as fast as I need to."

She glanced back at the taller man, who seemed to have fallen behind. "Looks like Leorio's having trouble keeping up, though... If you don't mind me saying, he looks rather weak."

"You okay?" she heard Gon ask. Leorio could only give a thumbs-up in reply.

Suddenly, he stopped and let his briefcase fall to the floor with a thump.

"Is he done?" Sani wondered. Kurapika shook his head.

"I doubt it," he muttered, grinning reluctantly when the said teenager blew past him abruptly. "See?"

Gon ran up, carrying the briefcase Leorio had dropped, having fished it to him with his rod. Killua looked intrigued. "Oh! That's cool, your trick. Can I try after?"

"Only if you lend me your skateboard!" Gon chirped back.

* * *

The tunnel began twisting and contained staircases.

Sani yawned. "Finally, some fun. I've been falling asleep here. By the way, has anyone dropped out, yet?"

"One has," Killua replied with a hidden undertone of caution.

"Well," called Satotsu from the front, "Let's pick up the pace."

Sani perked up. "Yes! More running!"

"She's not natural," Leorio groaned.

Sani glanced at him. He had removed his jacket and tied it around his waist. "Tch. Unnatural yourself."

"Are you okay, Leorio?" Kurapika asked.

"As you see, I'm really fine! I'm not the best, but it doesn't matter! I know I'll make it! Even if I have to run naked! Kurapika! I advise you to ignore me, if you don't want to be embarrassed!"

"Hm," Sani muttered. _Now there's a lesson to be remembered._

Kurapika followed the guy regardless. "Come on, Sani. I want to ask him some questions."

"Why?"

"He doesn't strike me as the greedy man he wants us to think of him as." He took off the robes over his more normal clothes and folded it into his bag neatly.

"You go," Sani shot back. "I have things I want to talk to Killua about." And she vanished.

Kurapika shook his head. _She's fast..._

* * *

[1] _"O~so~i~"_ - Japanese for "slow". Used to accent the way Sani extends the word. I'm probably not going to do that a lot, only when I think it needs doing.

[2] _"Ssa-ssani_."- Her name is actually Sani, but because of the static, it comes out as "ssa-ssani"

[3] _Note for...narrowing candidates_ - taken directly from the manga translation, so I'm not sure how to correct any grammatical errors ^.^"

* * *


End file.
